Commentary

This has been a very busy week for me, and not just with the final exams I am typing and the papers that I am grading for the end of the semester. I have been inundated with requests for help in removing what is known generically as “rogue anti-virus.” These recent frantic requests for assistance have been from a prominent an attorney, a politician, a small business owner, fellow faculty members, students, neighbors, and a panoply of other people, all of whom had inadvertently downloaded one (or two!) of the hundreds of variations of the same malware under a variety of names.

In last week’s column, we began a discussion about unjust criticism and how it affects those on the receiving end of the matter. We listed six good points out of the dozen originally written on the subject. Today, we are going to cover the last half a dozen, trusting that they will help many who are facing this type of situation on a daily basis either in a relationship within the home, at school, at work, or in relationships with friends.

The vibrant celebration of Easter is a highlight of the church year, and for Christians the world over, this day is special on so many levels. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus after being crucified on a wooden cross for the sins of believers is significant and the key tenant to which their faith is tied. Almost every church celebrates in some fashion, and folks the world over gather to share this victorious day together.

We are going to deal with a subject today that I firmly believe God has put on my heart. I have several reasons for choosing this subject, and one of them is that some folks never get it right in an entire lifetime. There is good and helpful criticism, which leads to improvements, good jobs being done and healthy attitudes among all ages. And there is bad or poor criticism, which usually leads to anger, uncertainty, bitterness and often failure.

Recently, while watching television, I noticed a Geico insurance ad in which the speaker asked, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one’s there to hear it, does it make a sound?” He reasoned that it did. This got me to thinking about the ever-present pledge of conservative members of the Texas Legislature about no new taxes. This question comes to my mind: If it’s not called a tax, is it a tax, even though it takes money out of taxpayers’ pockets?

My last two columns have been written with an eye toward a subject that has garnered much attention in the past few weeks. From media newscasts, radio broadcasts, special speakers and pastors and teachers, we have been hearing about the historic events unfolding more quickly with each day and night we live. One lady said to me on Sunday at my church that watching the national news at night was like listening to her old pastor preach many years ago.

WASHINGTON — I settled my ample figure into a dark leather booth in the Caucus Room steakhouse and confronted a pressing question: W.W.H.E?

What Would Haley Eat?

Haley Barbour, the Mississippi governor and prospective Republican presidential candidate, was a founder and owner of this sanctum sanctorum of the Washington powerful. Waiters told me he favored the chopped salad — off menu, natch — and another informant indicated he preferred light liquors.

A grease fire at the FM 365 location of Novrozsky’s Hamburgers, Etc. shut the Nederland eatery down for more than a month, but it might have proved a fortuitous development for the restaurant. As they scramble to reopen in early March, the Beaumont-based chain finds itself in the middle of an incipient burger war.

While we harbor no disrespect for the Wall Street Journal who called us “that scrappy little paper from Southeast Texas,” we prefer to think of ourselves as simple seekers of the truth. We’re of the opinion that headlines and sound bites never tell the whole story. Our readers demand all the facts, facets and flavors of every story or event. And, they expect to be informed, educated and stirred to action.